Tottenham Hotspur's 18-year-old attacking midfielder Marcus Edwards is expected to be named among the substitutes for the FA Cup fourth round tie with Wycombe Wanderers today at White Hart Lane.

There is a palpable sense of excitement whenever Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino discusses the teenager, as if he's aware the north Londoners have someone special about to break through.

The Argentine is normally very measured when it comes to bigging up his players, as he prefers the team ethic, so when he once began comparing Edwards' footwork and style to a young Lionel Messi to a group of journalists, his accompanying press officer almost began breaking into a sweat at the likelihood of the following morning's headlines and the enormous pressure heaped upon the then 17-year-old.

Pochettino was unapologetic, seemingly confident in the teenager's ability to handle anything, although he did offer up that Edwards also had similar traits to a young Erik Lamela.

It's worth noting though that Lamela was also compared to Messi in his early days at River Plate as well as the standard Diego Maradona comparison that follows all young Argentine talents, as does Pele with Brazil's teenage stars.

"Maybe if Marcus Edwards were born in Brazil or Argentina, today he would be one of the most interesting prospects in football in the world," Pochettino also admitted back in October.

"Maybe all the big teams would be fighting to buy him, but he is at Tottenham, he is in England and he is still a kid. We cannot appreciate he is a man, nearly a man, and he deserves to play.

"But that is the cultural difference and the Premier League is one of the stronger financial leagues. Tottenham, like Liverpool and all the clubs, prefer to buy experience and quality rather than give time to the younger players."

Marcus Edwards in action against Juventus during the summer

Bearing in mind Edwards has only played 15 minutes of senior football that makes the praise even loftier.

However, the teenager has been spoken about for some time around Hotspur Way - Spurs' training complex - with a similar excitement to the one that surrounded Wayne Rooney was coming through at Everton. He already had the nickname 'Mini Messi' around the club long before Pochettino made the public comparison.

The Spurs boss had heard the hype and watched him in youth matches and it wasn't long before Edwards was being introduced into first team training sessions.

The youngster was finally unveiled to fans last summer during Spurs’ pre-season International Champions Cup matches in Australia against European giants Atletico Madrid and Juventus and then came back and starred in Premier League 2 and UEFA Youth League matches for the development side with goals and assists aplenty.

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He was handed his competitive Spurs debut by Pochettino as a second half substitute in the EFL Cup tie against Gillingham at White Hart Lane in September.

It was only a brief cameo but Edwards still managed to wow the Tottenham faithful in those 15 minutes, particularly with one late jinking run inside from the right wing followed by a stinging shot that needed to be pushed over by the Gills' goalkeeper Stuart Nelson.

There was also a superb volleyed goal in October for England's U19s against Bulgaria in a 2-1 victory, at Wycombe Wanderers' Adams Park ground.

Marcus Edwards celebrates with team-mates after scoring in a Premier League 2 match against Reading

However, it was during a training session with the first team in October in Germany later that month before the Champions League match at Bayer Leverkusen when he twisted his ankle.

The injury kept him out of the spotlight and it took some time for the damage to heal. There was hope, mainly among the fans, that the talented teenager would recover in time to take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round last month, but he had the added complication of needing to have his tonsils taken out and that chance came and went.

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However, he is now back in training and when asked by football.london on Thursday whether Edwards would be playing a part in this weekend's cup tie, Pochettino certainly did not rule it out.

"Today was his first training session with the group then we'll see. First of all we need to see him tomorrow and afterwards decide," said the Spurs boss.

"It's true that he's a little bit far to the level of the group. It was his first day with the group today and now he needs to build his fitness and achieve the same level of the whole group."

The Spurs fans might have forgotten the name Marcus Edwards during the last couple of months, but if the teenager gets another chance to impress from the bench this afternoon then he's likely to quickly remind them.